Silver Lights, Turquoise Nights: Homophobic
by chainmailbucket
Summary: Riku is currently attending school at West Midgar High, located in the slums of Midgar. There, he gets caught up in the social politics of a damning high school, where homosexuality is seen as a disgusting "illness". Defiant and furious, Riku challenges this idiocracy, because... Well, he can. - A little of Vaan/Riku. Story about challenging stagnant beliefs.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : So this was requested by a Guest... Sort of. ^_^;;; They requested a prompt of one of Riku's training sequences, and as it sort of lined up with an idea I'd been playing with for ages, this story started... and derailed. It was linked in my head, so the prompt sort of happened?

Anyway, it's four chapters long and somewhat sad. Let me know what you think, and if you would like to read any stories involving my Silver Lights, Turquoise Nights AU characters- and that includes stories about Sora or Roxas or Ventus- you let me know! I love prompts. I really do.

 **"The Truth" - Chapter 1**

Riku was cold. He was graceful, calculating, tall, and extremely unapproachable.

At least, that's how the students of West Midgar High saw him.

Riku walked through the halls, silver hair loose and shoulder length, his nose in a book. Where he walked, students moved quickly out of his way; there was a kind of feline grace to his movements, and it seemed to awaken their normally-dormant instincts. It helped, as well, that his arms were about as thick around as their necks.

The silver-haired teen was on his way to the library. He'd been at this school for a record two weeks, something unheard of for him (he wondered if his family's hunter had given up or gotten temporarily lost), and realized that his attitude up until this point had essentially ruined all chances he may have had at making friends. The other students were afraid of him; Riku had purposefully come off as unapproachable and cold, as he always had. He'd assumed that if he was ever in a school long enough to make friends that he'd just turn the attitude down, but it quickly became apparent that this was not the case. He'd attempted a simple hello to a blonde boy in his science class, and with a flinch the other teen had picked up his things and moved three seats away.

Riku sighed, closing the book; he'd been re-reading the same line for the past five minutes. It troubled him that it had taken nearly ten years to learn that if you're an ass on the first day of school, people are going to assumed you're always an ass. That should have been extremely obvious... Then again, he'd had little chances to learn from experience.

A sudden commotion from the cafeteria as he passed it- it was lunch hour after all- made him pause, taking a few steps back. A large group of students were eagerly shouting as they pushed past one another, trying to get through the cafeteria doors to the outside fields as quickly as they could. "Fields" was a generous term; there was next to no vegetation in Midgar. Any vegetation that did manage to grow quickly turned black from the very noxious air within the city; Riku wondered how he and his family, or anyone for that matter, had retained any illusion of health at all.

Curiosity got the better of the teen, and he quickly put the book away as he navigated the halls to a very unused pair of doors leading to the same field; there was no use trying to get through the crowd, and while this path took him slightly out of the way, it was better than getting stuck in a crowd of students who were somewhat terrified of you.

The field itself consisted mostly of dirt and a few hopeful, mostly withered trees. False grass had been planted to make a football field, though somehow even the false grass looked dismal. The sky, as usual, was blotted out; this particular school was located near the slums of Midgar, on the West side, and they were therefore located under the massive second layer of the upper-class Midgar. That may have been why it'd taken so long for the Crescent family to need to relocate.

At the very center of the field was the object of the student body's excitement: a very tall, attractive teen was facing a second teen, who looked like he was surrounded. The first had long brown hair styled so that it flipped over and to his right; the teen he was addressing, at the very center of the crowd, was smaller and thinner but no less attractive. He had blonde hair that was far shorter, and often wore tank tops and baggy pants. Riku recognized the first- his name was Vayne, a young male who was at the head of West Midgar High's popular crowd. He was one of the cruelest examples of a popular kid that Riku had ever seen, though his cruelty usually came out in the form of words and vocal insults. They were no less deadly, but Vayne refused to fight his own battles, leaving any physical fighting to his lackeys. Unfortunately, Riku had quickly learned that Vayne was the son or nephew or something of the school Principal. In other words, he was never in trouble, and fighting against Vayne was considered the same as signing your own expulsion papers.

Suddenly, Riku recognized the boy in the middle of the crowd: Vaan, a teen from Riku's English class. The teen had seemed very friendly, at the center of his own personal crowd of friends. He'd stood up against other, lesser bullies to protect the less-able student populace, but it seemed that Vayne had some dirt on the blonde teen. As Riku got closer, he was able to pick up on their conversation.

"...know the truth about you," Vayne was drawling in a bored tone of voice. His eyes were anything but bored; cruel excitement flickered in them. "It would be a shame for the social ladder to find out about your... Sickness."

Vaan said nothing, to Riku's mounting curiousity; he flexed his hands, gritting his teeth, but he didn't look away from Vayne. His expression was clear; he wanted nothing more than to hit this cocky, asshole teen in the face, and that he knew he couldn't. Vayne, clearly, could read the other teen's face just as easily.

"You could come and start hanging out with me," Vayne offered, looking at his nails.

"Vaan," another teen snarled from the crowd. Riku glanced over, but he didn't recognize this teen; he wore a somewhat puffy shirt, and his hair was very well groomed. He had a light stubble- he must have been a senior, or a very well-developed underclassman- and his expression was stormy. "Don't let him control you! It doesn't matter!"

"Oh, but it does!" Vayne laughed, throwing his head back. His entire body was at ease, his cocky attitude practically leaking from every pore. "It matters very much to Vaan- can't you see that, Balthier?"

The other teen, Balthier, quickly removed himself from the crowd to stand next to Vaan. He lifted his chin defiantly.

"I'm not letting you own anyone," he snarled. "Anything is better than being a prisoner- you know that Vaan!" He directed the last piece almost desperately to the teen beside him, but the smaller blonde wasn't looking at him anymore. His gaze was cast toward the grass, and his fists were clenched. From Riku's vantage point, he could see clearly that Vaan's arms were shaking.

"He knows," Vayne drawled, "that no one will come to his rescue. No one would stand beside someone like him... Except for me." Vayne cocked his head, grinning almost like a predator, and Riku suddenly realized what dirt Vayne had to have on Vaan. The teen was clearly terrified that if this truth came out, all of his friends would leave him. For someone like Vaan, always at the center of school life and friends, that would be traumatic- and Riku had picked up on the school's atmosphere. There was little doubt, in his mind, that Vaan was right- and that Vayne had no real intention of revealing the truth. Once he had, having Vaan under his thumb would mean literally nothing.

Riku strode across the field, pushing past students as he did so. His blood was pounding, his ears filled with a strange roaring sound; he hated school drama. He hated secrets, and lies, and social standards. But most of all, he absolutely, furiously _detested_ someone who sought to have control over another human being.

"Vayne," he called over, dropping his backpack as he reached Vaan's side. "You're a sack of shit."

Vayne, as well as every other student on the field, seemed struck dumb by Riku's intervention. He had to admit, it did seem strange- since day one, Riku had been pushing every student around him away. He even had the vaguest recollection of outright ignoring Vaan when the blonde repeatedly tried to befriend him, and felt a shred of guilt bloom in his stomach. It was, of course, for their own safety... But he still regretted it, now that he knew better.

"I... Beg your pardon?"

"You're a lying sack of shit," Riku said, loudly enough for the entire field to hear but with enough drawling boredom to ruffle Vayne further. "I'm calling your bluff. You won't reveal it."

"Oh really?" Vayne seemed flabbergasted, his expression one of complete and utter disbelief. "Are you assuming I wouldn't stoop so low?"

"On the contrary," Riku said, crossing his arms, his turquoise eyes trained on Vayne's brown voice lowered, so that only Vayne, Vaan, and Balthier could hear him. "You'd stoop so low the rats would be appalled. No, Vayne, I'm calling your bluff because Vaan's worth would be nothing if you did reveal the truth."

Outright surprise flashed across Vayne's face, so clear that Vaan sucked in a burst of breath.

"Well," Vayne said after a moment, looking Riku up and down thoughtfully. "Interesting."

"You..." Vaan's face turned red. "You weren't going to tell?"

"No," Vayne said after a moment. "I wasn't."

Riku's eyes narrowed; he didn't like the way Vayne had said that, and suddenly realized that he may have exacerbated things. Vaan and Balthier seemed to realize the same thing, because out of the corner of his eye, Riku saw them both turn pale.

"Oh don't go looking at me like that," he said, smiling benignly. It was the cheesiest, most false smile Riku had ever seen. "I'm not going to tell. Right now." He looked directly at Riku, his expression turning cloudy and curious. "You, Mr. Crescent, are on my shit list now. Be aware of that."

"I really, really could not care any less," Riku said with a half laugh. "Your royalty means nothing to me, Vayne. You're just another grain of sand in the shit-stain that is Midgar."

A spasm of fury crossed the other teen's face, and with a twist of his heel, he turned and stalked off. The repertoire of students that usually groveled at his feet hurried after him, shooting dirty looks at Vayne's retreating back.

"Now he's really going to spread it around," Vaan said softly. As the students dispersed, save for Vaan's most loyal friends, all of which were now rushing over, the teen fell quietly to his knees. "What am I going to do?"

"Not panic," Riku said grimly. Vaan didn't look at him; his expression was that of a person on death row.

"This is your fault," Balthier snarled, and Riku snorted.

"It was either I come over here and stop Vaan from becoming his pet dog, or Vaan lived in fear that any minute Vayne would reveal the truth."

At that point, Vaan's friends appeared. Most were looking at Riku with varying levels of fury and disgust.

"Way to go, pretty boy," a girl with blonde pigtails snapped. "You made this worst than ever. No secret was worth Vayne's wrath."

"Right, and what was Vaan facing before?" Riku shot back, and she flushed, unable to answer.

"How are things any better than they were before?" Balthier seemed the only one who actually knew what secret Vayne was referencing. Riku hesitated, before kneeling down in front of Vaan.

"This is your choice," he said gravely, "but your best bet now is to just out it yourself."

Vaan looked ready to argue, but he saw the truth in Riku's eyes. He must have also realized that Riku knew, and the teen put his hands over his face, groaning softly.

"Vaan, if you don't spread the truth, I can promise you that what Vayne has in store for you is the last thing you want to be a part of. Worst than social pariah-status."

"How do you know?" Vaan half-sobbed.

"I've seen that look before." Riku's voice was dark. "I know that look, and I know the intent behind it. Just trust me. None of it is good."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Chapters two and three felt much shorter than chapter one, but it wasn't until the end of chapter one that I realized this was going to be a chapter story. Originally, it was going to be all one "chapter"- a short story, or what have you. Now it's just... A slightly longer short story. Anyway, here you go!

I love my violent Riku.

 **"The Truth" - Chapter 2**

A side effect of Riku's "bravery" was that Vaan now stuck beside him, and by extension, so did Balthier. At first, Riku had absolutely no idea what to do, especially as the other teen- who had a very heavy, posh English accent- kept shooting him suspicious, dirty looks.

Vaan was miserable, and he kept jumping every time someone approached to talk to him. The blonde sat close to Riku, blue eyes staring off into the distance, and Riku couldn't even begin to imagine how terrified Vaan must feel. It was obviously enough that having the people know knew nearby was the most comforting thing he could have, and so Riku did not object.

Vaan's normal group of friends seemed put off by this development. Riku hadn't realized he was so unapproachable; the group sat nearly a full table away while Riku ate during lunch.

"I thought you normally ate in the library," Balthier said stiffly the next day. He was looking more sour than ever; Vaan was staring blankly at the food on his tray, not eating. He didn't even seem to notice they were talking.

"I did," Riku said shortly, taking a bite out of a sandwhich without putting his book down. If he was being truthful, he hadn't read a single word in it; between the uncomfortable stares from Vaan's usual group of friends and the pain he felt as Vaan refused to eat, it was nearly impossible to concentrate on the words before him.

"What changed?" Balthier's voice was almost snobbish. He was by no means the type of person to think he was above everyone else; farbeit, in fact. His attitude was almost like that of a pirate's, as Riku had seen his normal characteristics on several occasions over the last two weeks. It was simply the events currently going on that had him tense, as well as everyone else in the school. Vaan was well-liked, but a juicy secret was a juicy secret. People were dying to know.

Riku didn't say anything, but he closed his book, put his sandwhich down, and thunk Vaan on the back of the head. The blonde blinked, looking up at the silverhaired teen slowly.

"You," Riku said in exaggerated slowness. "Need. To. Eat."

"I'm not hungry," Vaan murmured miserably.

"Too bad." Riku pushed the plate toward Vaan, who winced. "Eat it, Vaan. You need to."

"But-"

"You can't win wars without energy," Riku said in an almost paternal voice. He opened his book again, as though brooking no arguments. "Eat."

Vaan stared at him for a moment, looking like he wanted to argue, before turning back to the tray before him. He had ordered spaghetti, but after a single bite, his eyes widened somewhat and he started shoveling food into his mouth. As Riku had expected, the teen probably hadn't eaten dinner the day before or breakfast today; his stomach was all nerves, but once it had had a taste of food, Vaan had realized how hungry he was.

Balthier sniffed, looking to his own tray... Though Riku didn't miss the look of relief on his face.

–

It wasn't long before Vayne made a move, though it was in an unexpected method. Three days after the incident on the field, Vaan, Riku, and Balthier were cornered in the hallway between classes. Vaan's expression was dismal; it was obvious that this was the moment. He stood in a somewhat deflated fashion behind Riku.

"Vaan," Vayne said sweetly by way of greeting. "So good to see you're doing well."

No one said anything; Riku held Vayne's gaze, turquoise eyes glinting with barely-suppressed rage.

"Well," Vayne said after a moment. The entire hall had gone quiet. "Glad to see everyone's so cheerful!"

No one laughed.

"We have a class to get to, Vayne," Riku said in a tight voice. "You may be riding on daddy's coattails, but the rest of us actually use our brains to succeed in life."

Vayne's eyes glinted, and Vaan flinched behind Riku.

"You know, you should be niced to me, Riku," Vayne said. Though his voice was quiet, everyone in the hall could hear it; it was as though they were all holding their breath, waiting for the truth to come out. "Especially considering the dirt I have over you."

"Please, do share," Riku said acidly. "You'll find I'm more than capable of handling whatever it is you think you know."

"Seems odd that the first friends you make," Vayne said, eyes growing harder with every word that left Riku's mouth. "Are so... Interestingly different from the rest of us."

"Your point?" Riku had clearly missed where this was heading, and Balthier tried to hiss at him to shut up, but the silver-haired teen's ears were roaring again.

"How long have you liked men, Riku?" Vayne drawled.

The hall fell deadly silent. Vaan froze, staring at the back of Riku's head in horror. Balthier's own expression was shocked, and from Riku's suddenly clear perception, he could see various expressions ranging from disbelief to disgust on the faces around him. He'd read the atmosphere correctly, it seemed- West Midgar High was a homophobic society.

Thinking fast, Riku realized he had two options. Deny what Vayne said, after which Vayne would have an opportunity to smear Vaan's name. Vaan clearly had a terrible poker face; he wouldn't be able to convince the student body that his own sexuality was not in question. So, obviously, that option was out- leaving one left.

"I'm not sure," Riku drawled, pretending to think. "Possibly since 7th grade."

This was clearly not what anyone was expecting, including Vayne. He blinked.

"I- So... Forthcoming," Vayne said, attempting to mask his surprise.

"If you're trying to come onto me," Riku said, giving Vayne a disgusted look, "please stop. I'm not into assholes."

Vayne turned bright red, and the dusgusted looks of the students turned to take him in.

"Don't turn this one me," Vayne snarled. "I'm not the gay teen here."

"Oh thank goodness, then it's just me," Riku said in a relieved voice. "Whew." He turned apologetically to Vaan and Balthier. "I'm sorry for not telling you, but now that it's out, you can stop pretending to be my friends now. No use, anymore. That's the secret you were helping me hide." He grinned at them, and Vaan's expression turned to one of disbelieving realization. Riku was, effectively, cutting the two of them off and out of the picture; all attention would be on him now, and off of Vaan, who would be discarded as yesterday's news. Riku would be under fire from all sides, though unbeknownst to the two teens staring at him in disbelief, Riku could MORE than handle it.

Riku pushed through the crowd, though he needn't have tried. Students jumped away, looking at him in disgusted anger, and a flare of resentment flooded his heart. That some areas of the world were still so homophobic, so lacking in class, was infuriating to him. The silver-haired teen should have been used to it... But he didn't want to be.

After that, Riku was effectively alone... And a target.


	3. Chapter 3

**"The Truth" - Chapter 3**

The first attack happened right after school. Three students were waiting on the route Riku normally took to walk home, armed with baseball bats. The authorities found them stuffed into trashcans headfirst, almost knocked out from the sickly sweet smell of garbage, the baseball bats snapped in two beside the cans. As Riku had known, they were too embarrassed to explain that they'd been beaten the shit out of by a "gay kid".

The second attack happened at lunch, as Riku was on his way to the library. He passed the boy's locker room, where three students attempted to drag him in and do gods knew what to him. He left them with swirlies and sobbing "I'm sorry I'm a catterpillar" on their faces in sharpie. They refused to tell the school who did it, also too embarrassed.

The third attack was more interesting- this time, it was in an alley on Riku's home root. Four teens and two adults, surprisingly, jumped out of an alley.

"Heard you're into men," one of the adults sneered. "We don't have a place around here for freaks like you."

At this point, they revealed their guns. By the time the police had arrived, all six of the offenders had been hung by their underwear from a nearby broken flagpole, the guns neatly dismantled at their feet.

Lucrecia, Riku's mother, was not happy with this development.

"Oh honey," she said, wringing her hands, "we should just leave."

"Not until I've taught them all a lesson," Riku said darkly, lounging in his living room. "They're all a bunch of Neanderthals."

"You can't move mountains," Reno said sadly. "Not in a day, Riku."

"Then I'll start the river," the teen had snapped. "Something has to give, and if I simply cause the start of it, then so be it."

Lucrecia started getting snide remarks from the other mothers at the market.

"Oh, I'd be so embarrassed if my son were gay," a woman said within clear earshot of Lucrecia. The brunette woman looked her opponent up and down- a small, fat woman with graying hair who smelled of rotten socks- and sniffed.

"I'd be so embarrassed if I looked half as unattractive as you," she remarked snidely. "Or perhaps I'm seeing the ugly carcass you hide beneath rotted member you call a heart."

She left them stammering in their spots, outraged and furious.

The attacks began to get noticed by the populace at large; news reports were being made on the treatment of a lone, brave homosexual boy to be left unnamed at West Midgar High. Picketers appeared outside the school, to which the Principal reacted with furious negativity. He held an assembly, during which he attempted to find out and shame the gay student causing such negative attention to be brought down on his school.

"Will the troubled student please come forward?" He sneered into the microphone. "Don't be ashamed of your... Illness, boy. Just come up here."

Riku snorted; if the man had expected the silver-haired teen to be ashamed, then he had underestimated him. There was little Riku could lose that he hadn't already lost before. Expulsion was the worst case scenario, and how was that so different from his constant relocation?

Riku stood slowly and sauntered up to the stage, staring the principal dead in the face. Little did either know that several students in the audience were recording.

"You know young man," the principal said rudely, smiling cruelly. "I had a lot of identity issues when I was your age too, but this has gone too far. Stop embarrassing your mother."

"I'll stop if you stop," Riku said immediately, and several students snickered in spite of themselves.

"Now you listen here," the man gasped in outrage, and Riku's eyes flashed furiously.

"No," he said coldly. "YOU listen here. I will not back down. I am gay. I like men. I am me. I have had no issues with this ever. I have never been with a male, because while you have never had a lover due to being a subpar human being, I have higher standards. I will NOT bow down to your outdated thought process, and I will continue to protect myself against..." and here, he shot a disappointed look at the auditorium. "Well, less than imaginative attempts at my life. Are we done here?" He added.

It was at this point that the whole process took a decidedly unforseen turn.

"No."

The voice came from the audience, and Riku turned in surprise to see Vaan standing up and looking at the Principal. Slowly, Balthier stood up beside him, his expression grim.

"I beg your pardon?" The princpal stammered furiously.

"You asked for the problem student to come forward," Vaan shouted, "and only one did. But he's not alone- I... I'm gay too."

Mad whispers of shock broke out across the auditorium. "I can't stay quiet anymore," Vaan added in a wavering voice. "Riku protected me by coming out. It was Vayne who started this... But it's going to be us who end this."

No one knew what to say.

"And Mr. Balthier?" The principal seemed to be barely suppressing his outrage and disgust. "Are you gay as well?"

"Oh, no," Balthier said, laughing as his voice echoed around the hall. "I'm just a decent human being. I've known all along. I'm standing because I support my friend."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I could swear I posted this. Of course I didn't, but that doesn't matter. It's going up now, better late than never I suppose TTOTT

It struck me, while I quickly edited this, that I may offend people with this story and my lack of correct terms and whatnot. I'd hope I didn't, but it's entirely possible. If you couldn't tell, I'm straight, and I have NO IDEA the correct nomenclature for... Well, anything. People are beautiful. That's all I know. I don't need a title or some kind of term of sexuality to know you're beautiful, and you're human.

Anyway, enjoy the final chapter of this VERY rough story!

 **Chapter 4**

Things were turning explosive. After Vaan announced his homosexuality to the school, the Principal gave all three of them a month's worth of detention for "disrupting an assembly", and half the school was in outrage. It seemed the lack of fair treatment was beginning to thaw the school's social hierarchy; during that detention, it wasn't just Vaan, Balthier, and Riku who showed up- about seven other students did.

It turned out that several students in the school were homosexual. Three lesbian girls showed up, two gays, and the other two were just supporters like Balthier. Vaan seemed relieved; the next day, his friends continued to sit with him, but when Riku attempted to go eat alone in the library, it was a young girl named Ashe who ran over to stop him.

"It would mean a lot to Vaan if you sat with us," she said softly. "You're a hero to him... And to all of us."

"I don't..." Riku didn't know how to react. He'd gotten used to his self-imposed banishment.

"Please." She smiled at him, and he sighed, beaten. A smile as friendly as her's was impossible to say "no" to.

But then something terrible happened- Balthier was sent to the hospital, and Vaan sported a nasty set of bruises over half his body.

They'd been attacked, and clearly by Vayne's own supporters. Riku realized that, with so many of them in the line of fire and his own ability to protect them in a constant flux, he needed to do something fast.

And that was how he found himself at the head of roughly fifteen students, with Reno, Rude, and Elena at either side, teaching everyone self-defense.

For weeks, he ran courses with the students, designed to allow them to protect themselves and not necessarily to harm anyone. Somehow this made it to Midgar news as well, and Riku knew it was only a matter of time until his family was found. There was already rumors of SHINRA moving to relocate them in preparation for the inevitability.

"Riku," Vaan said one lunch, looking curiously at the silver-haired teen's anxious face. "What's wrong?" Their lunch table had grown to nearly thirty supporters; they were making waves at theschool, with Riku situated awkwardly at the center.

"I may not... Be here much longer," Riku said somewhat hesitantly. He looked at his tray of uneaten food. "I may have to suddenly leave, and not say goodbye."

"Why-" Vaan looked dismayed, as did Ashe and a girl named Penelo- the one with the blonde pigtails.

"Just... Reasons." Riku looked at the ceiling. "But that doesn't mean you should all stop fighting."

"Who's going to train us?" Ashe said quickly. "We need you, Riku. You can't go."

Riku was torn. He wanted so badly to stay behind and help them, protect them, but he'd already gotten in too deep.

"If I stay," he said quietly. "Bad things will happen. Worst than what's happening here."

No one said anything; the agony on his face was too real, too truthful.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

–

It turned out, Riku needn't have worried. The moment came when Vayne had had enough; his ordered attacks weren't working anymore. The supporters and "out" students traveled in groups, and their new-found skills kept them from being harmed. So it was that he approached Riku and tried goading the teen into hitting him.

Unfortunately for Vayne, Riku was extremely high-strung by this point; he'd been seeing signs everywhere that his time was up, and he was afraid to mention anything to his family. SHINRA hadn't given the command yet, and his stress-levels were higher than ever. At any moment He could walk around the corner of the school, or kill someone nearby for the fun of it, or kidnap Riku's mother- and he wasn't handling the fear very well.

"Well well well, if it isn't my favorite fag," Vayne said one lunch period, leaning against a locker three away from Riku's. The silver-haired teen worked a muscle in his jaw.

"Not now, Vayne," Riku said through gritted teeth. "You don't want to do this right now."

"Oh, no?" Vayne sneered, brown eyes glittering. "Why wouldn't I? You've turned my school into a horror house."

"Riku," Vaan said warningly from the silver-haired teen's left. He'd seen Riku's hands tense. "Stop. It's not worth it."

"What, hitting me in the face?" Vayne leaned forward, staring gloatingly into Riku's steel eyes. "You know you want to. Or perhaps you'd rather kiss me?" He paused, brown eyes flicking to look at Vaan's expression of fear. "I know Vaan wants you to kiss him- don't you, fag?"

"I'd rather you KISSED MY ASS," Riku snarled, and with one glorious punch, he sent Vayne flying across the hall. It felt like everything faded to slow-motion; Vayne, flying unceremoniously past the lockers. Students, their mouths turning into large "O's" as they followed his movement. Vaan yelping in shock at Riku's lightning fast response, his snapped temper.

The brunet stood up quickly, but the blow made him stagger. Riku was on him in seconds, roaring wordlessly, and Vayne never even had a chance to get a word in. Within minutes, the teen was knocked out, and Riku was being escorted by three teachers to the principal's office, head held high amidst cheering and applause from all but those closest to him.

Within fifteen minutes, Riku was expelled and escorted from the premesis, and within at most thirty minutes after that, SHINRA gave the order to pull out.

It was Riku's greatest regret that he never got to say goodbye to his first and only friends, and it would be along time before he was ever considered anyone's friend again.


End file.
